Apparatus for forming and conveying vertical loops in a strip of a material

ABSTRACT

An endless conveyor for a festoon steamer, said conveyor serving for the movement of support rods for vertically hanging loops of a textile web, in which a portion of the path of the conveyor consists of a horizontal track; the extremities of the supporting rods are carried in support members from the conveyor and are deposited on the beginning of this track. The same rods are picked up again at the end of the track by said conveyor; The support members each contain two movable bolts for locking the supporting rods. A double cam at both ends of the track serves for actuating the locking bolts independently of each other.

Kiister et al.

Nov. 6, R973 APPARATUS FOR FORMING AND CONVEYING VERTICAL LOOPS IN A STRIP OF A MATERIAL Inventors: Wolfgang Kiister, Bad

Salzuflen-Schoetner; Harald Jentzsch, Brackwede-Quelle, both of Germany Stork Amsterdam N.V., Amstelveen, Netherlands Filed: Mar. 28, 1972 Appl. No.: 238,87

Assignee:

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1926 Ford 226/107 X 1,876,761 9/1932 Rosener 226/107 X Primary ExaminerRichard A. Schacher Att0rneyAllen D. Brufsky [57] ABSTRACT An endless conveyor for a festoon steamer, said conveyor serving for the movement of support rods for vertically hanging loops ofa textile web, in which a portion of the path of the conveyor consists of a horizontal track; the extremities of the supporting rods are carried in support members from the conveyor and are deposited on the beginning of this track. The same rods are picked up again at the end of the track by said conveyor; The support members each contain two movable bolts for locking the supporting rods. A double cam at both ends of the track serves for actuating the locking bolts independently of each other.

3 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures PATENTEUHUY 6191s 3770.174

sum 10? 4 PATENTED HOV 6 I973 SHEET 2 BF 4 PATENTED NOV 6 I975 SHE'ET u 0F 4 APPARATUS FOR FORMING AND CONVEYING VERTICAL LOOPS IN A STRIP OF A MATERIAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention refers to an apparatus for forming and conveying vertical loops in a strip of material, particularly in an installation for steam-treatment of textiles, by the use of an endless conveyor having two chains or corresponding members, on which is mounted a means for carrying the ends of a number of supporting rods. Parallel and closely adjacent to a portion of the path of the endless conveyor is ahorizontal guide path onto which the outer ends of the supporting rods can be laid at the entry to the steamer and from the exit end of which they can be carried away by the conveyor.

In a conventional apparatus of this kind the horizontal guide path for supporting the rods consists of either two fixed rails on which the supporting rods rest by their outer ends, or of two endless conveyor belts which function similarly. In practice the device by which the supporting rods are put on the guide path by the conveyor and lifted off it again, proves particularly important. That is, if a supporting rod slips out of the chain, the strip of material is spoiled and the whole process must be interrupted. Breakdowns of that kind are all the more serious in that access to the interior of such an installation, known as a festoon-steamer, is very difficult to attain, so that the necessary work is exceptionally complicated and time-consuming.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An important object of the invention consists in the provision of an apparatus of the kind mentioned above, which functions reliably and independently of the speed of the conveyor, so that coordinated action is assured under all circumstances.

In accordance with the invention it is provided in an apparatus of the said kind that each chain carries a number of support members, in which projections provided on the ends of the supporting rods can be enclosed on four sides. Along the path of motion of each chain near the beginning and at the end of the horizontal guide path, means for independently actuating one of two movable bolts that form two of the four enclosing sides that the end of supporting rod being acted upon is temporarily enclosed only on three sides.

A preferred embodiment consists a number of the support members or shoes is rigidly attached to each chain, each shoe having, in the lengthwise direction of the chain, a groove in which the end of a supporting rod fits slidably in two directions. Both directions in the shoe are lockable by two movable bolts or slides which extend outside the shoe and carrying guide rollers faced in opposite directions which independently cooperate with fixed cam faces. Each of the two slides can be moved against spring pressure, whilst the other remains in its position. Because the slides cooperate with cams arranged rigidly along the conveyor, the mechanism functions completely independently of the speed of the conveyor at the time.

In order to prevent the occurrence of shocks when setting down or picking up the supporting rods, the conveyor may be driven intermittently so that at the moment at which a supporting rod reaches the guide or is lifted away from it, the speed of both chains is at a minimum.

SURVEY OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic elevation of an apparatus in accordance with the invention in a festoon-steamer,

FIG. 2 shows an oblique view, partially broken away, of the installation as in FIG. 1,

FIGS. 3 6 give schematic elevations of a conveyor of the apparatus according to FIGS. 1 and 2 at the beginning of a fixed guide, with boltable support members in various positions,

FIGS. 7-10 are schematic elevations of the conveyor at the end of the fixed guide, with unboltable support members in various positions, and

FIG. 11 shows an oblique view of the conveyor in the position corresponding with FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIGS. 1 and 2 appears an installation called a festoon-steamer which is provided with the apparatus in accordance with the invention. The installation has a closed housing, in which prevails a steam atmosphere. Beside a material feed roll 1 there is a slit opening in front of which is a support roll 2. Between the feed roll 1 and the support roll 2 a strip 3 of material can be fed in. The apparatus has in addition a fixed guide arrangement or track which consists of two horizontal pairs of rails 4 arranged on opposite sides mutually spaced between which the ends of supporting rods 5 fit slidably. These supporting rods 5 are introduced into the guide 4 at its beginning 6 and carried away from it empty at its far end 7. This movement is performed by a supporting rod conveyor 8 which runs through under the guide 4 empty along the guide section 8.. It is formed of two movable chains spaced apart on opposite sides, which are guided over sprockets 9.

In the position shown in FIG. 1 a supporting rod 10 has just made contact with the strip 3 of material in order to pick up a formed loop 11 and guide it upwards to the beginning 6 of the guide 4. As soon as a supporting rod 5 has reached the guide 4, there is a loop 12 hanging between this supporting rod and a supporting rod previously introduced into the guide, which advances slowly in the direction of the far end 7 of the guide 4. Directly before the end 7 the strip 3 of material is reeled off at a recovery position 14 and guided away over a number of rollers 15.

In accordance with the invention the transport chains of the conveyor 8 are provided with shoes 20 which are attached particularly at uniform pitches rigidly to the chains. The shoes 20 have a mainly U-shaped crosssection, whereby a groove running in the lengthwise direction of the chain is formed by both parallel side walls 21, 22 and by the back wall 23 which is fixed to the chain. Studs 24 at the ends of the supporting rods 25 fit between the walls 21, 22 of the groove. Chamfers 26 ensure at entry the centering of these studs 24, of which the length is at least equal to the depth of the groove.

In the groove there are also two slides 30 and 31, which extend outside the wall22. Built-in springs (not shown) keep the slides 30, 31 normally in the position shown in FIG. 3, in which they enclose the studs 24 between the walls 22, 21 of the shoes 20. At the ends of the slides 30, 31 extending in opposite direction beyond the shoes 20 are rollers 32 and 33. These rollers cooperate with cam faces 34 and 35 arranged rigidly along the conveyor 8. When a supporting rod is being introduced into the guide 4, the cam 35 acts upon the roller 32, so that the slide 30 is opened and when the conveyor 8 advances through the stages corresponding with those shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 the supporting rod remains behind on the guide 4, without interference from the slide 30. It is clear that in the zone of the conveyor 8 in accordance with FIG. 1 outside the fixed guide 4, these slides 30 and 31 securely hold the ends of the supporting rods 5, l and respectively.

From FIGS. 7 to 10 it can be seen that when the supporting rod is lifted off at the end 7 of the guide 4 the rollers 33 at that time cooperate with the cam 35 in such a way that the slides 31 are opened and the slides support the studs 24 of the supporting rods as the conveyor 8 continues its upwards movement. As soon as the supporting rods have left the guide 4, the slides 31 close again under the action of the springs, since the rollers 33 are released from the cam faces.

The arrangement according to FIG. 3 is shown in FIG..11 enlarged and from another angle. It can be seen that the slides 30 and 31 are capable of independentaction. The rollers 32 and 33 are mOunted in opposite directions so that in cooperation with the roller 32 of the slide 30 is guided in a gate 34 and the roller 33 of the slide 31 in a second gate 35 (FIGS. 7 to 10) and are thus activated separately at the required portion of the process cycle. In order that the thrust which the cams 34 and 35 exert on the rollers 32 and 33 respectively should not be made partly ineffective by yielding of the conveyor chain 8, the latter might for example run in a chain guide 36.

The studs 24 can by relatively simple means be applied to the ends of the support rods 25 outside their axes.

The invention is applicable with particular advantage in equipments as described in applicants copending patent application No. 232,744, entitled Method and Apparatus for Forming and Moving Vertical Loops in a Strip of Material. Of course the equipments there presented can be applied in the apparatus according to the present invention.

What we claim is:

1. An apparatus for forming and conveying vertical loops in a strip of material, particularly in an installation for steam-treatment of textiles, consisting of an endless conveyor having transport means for carrying the ends of a number of supporting rods, said conveyor traveling parallel to a horizontal guide means on the beginning of which the outer ends of the supporting rods can be laid and from the exit end of which they can be carried away by the conveyor, in which the transport means each carry a number of support members in which the supporting rods can be enclosed at their ends on four sides, positioned near the beginning and the exit end of the horizontal guide means and located along the path of motion of each transport means are means for selectively actuating one of two movable bolts that are so arranged that the end of a supporting rod is temporarily enclosed only on three sides.

2. An apparatus according to claiin l, in which to each transport means a number of support members is rigidly attached, each such member having, in the lengthwise direction of the transport means, a groove in which the end of a supporting rod fits slideably in two directions, both such directions in the shoe being lockable by the two movable bolts, formed as slides which are spring biased and extend beyond the support member and have guide rollers which each cooperate with a fixed cam face, whereby one of the two slides is opened against spring pressure, while the other remains in its enclosing position.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, in which the conveyor is driven intermittently in such a way that at the moment at which a supporting rod reaches either end of the horizontal guide means, the speed of the transport means is a minimum. 

1. An apparatus for forming and conveying vertical loops in a strip of material, particularly in an installation for steamtreatment of textiles, consisting of an endless conveyor having transport means for carrying the ends of a number of supporting rods, said conveyor traveling parallel to a horizontal guide means on the beginning of which the outer ends of the supporting rods can be laid and from the exit end of which they can be carried away by the conveyor, in which the transport means each carry a number of support members in which the supporting rods can be enclosed at their ends on four sides, positioned near the beginning and the exit end of the horizontal guide means and located along the path of motion of each transport means are means for selectively actuating one of two movable bolts that are so arranged that the end of a supporting rod is temporarily enclosed only on three sides.
 2. An apparatus according to claim 1, in which to each transport means a number of support members is rigidly attached, each such member having, in the lengthwise direction of the transport means, a groove in which the end of a supporting rod fits slideably in two directions, both such directions in the shoe being lockable by the two movable bolts, formed as slides which are spring biased and extend beyond the support member and have guide rollers which each cooperate with a fixed cam face, whereby one of the two slides is opened against spring pressure, while the other remains in its enclosing position.
 3. An apparatus according to claim 2, in which the conveyor is driven intermittently in such a way that at the moment at which a supporting rod reaches either end of the horizontal guide means, the speed of the transport means is a minimum. 